This invention relates to a new and improved take-out carton and comprises a tray and a cover for the tray and blanks for forming the same. The blanks are planar sheets of paper-board which are folded and secured into a flanged tray and a tapered cover for locking engagement therewith. The blanks and resulting cover and tray may be made of plastic or materials other than paperboard, if desired. The primary purpose of the take-out container of the invention is for transport of hot food items such as those served by fast food establishments.
The carton of the invention is preferably of a rectangular shape. The tray of the carton of the invention has four flanges all of which are outwardly and downwardly directed and are hingedly connected by means of a common fold line to the top of an associated side or end wall of the tray. The fold lines connecting the flanges to their associated side panels create an upward and outward bias on the outwardly and downwardly directed tray flanges.
The cover for the tray is also of a rectangular shape and although it need not be dimensioned precisely to the tray, it is geometrically similar. The cover has two pairs of opposed tapered side walls or closure panels. The lower end of the pair of closure panels of greater length each have a folded back marginal portion secured to the inside thereof. The cover can then be pushed onto a tray such that the associated side flanges of the tray spring slightly upward and back into the indentation formed by the folded back marginal portion of the cover and the side closure panel thereby effectively fastening the cover to the tray.
To release the cover from the tray one grasps the center of the cover side closure panels or walls and pushes the cover down as he pivots and lifts the walls upwardly to allow the flanges of the tray to be released from their edge-to-edge engagement with the folded back marginal portions of the cover.
The end or closure panels of lesser dimension of the cover engage the end flanges of the tray to both aid in effective thermal sealing of the units and to provide a lifting area for the combined units since the cover cannot be released from the tray by lifting at these points. The flanges on the tray ends are of greater width than those along the tray side walls to provide a lifting surface attached directly to the tray itself so that the weight of the carton and its contents may be conveniently and safely supported thereby.
Various take-out cartons of the prior art have been utilized in which the cover is hingedly connected to the tray but this has not been entirely satisfactory since these covers have had a tendency to inadvertently flip down into the food during the user's meal. Furthermore, prior two-part take-out cartons have had the problem of insufficient locking and, therefore, there has been danger of a gust of wind removing the top, for example, when the carton is being carried from a take-out restaurant to an automobile. It has also been a problem in the prior art that take-out cartons necessarily have been supported in the area directly below their food containing cavities such that heat can be transferred directly to the transporter's fingers.
Accordingly, it is the object of this invention to provide an improved two-part take-out carton which provides an effective lock for the cover to the tray which is easily unlocked for total removal of the cover for easy access to the contents of the tray.
An additional object of the invention is an improved two-piece take-out carton in which when the cover is locked on the tray the combination of the cover and tray permit the weight of the carton and its contents to be supported at the ends thereof without the necessity of handling the bottom panel in the area adjacent hot food.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a take-out carton from paperboard cover and tray blanks which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture but which provides an improved method of locking the cover to the tray and releasing the cover from the tray while providing a handle area so that the cover and tray may be lifted as a unit without unlocking the cover from the tray.
The invention provides a simple mechanical method for joining a flanged tray and tapered cover which accomplishes these objects and provides a thermal barrier to keep the carton contents hot.